Rhabstallion first walked the Earth in the early 1980s as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal was taking off. Gigging hard to build their profile and sharing the stage with some big names they could pull quite a crowd on home turf around the West Yorkshire area.
Alas, it didn’t happen for them back then with just a solitary single and an appearance on the Electric Warrior compilation then the band went their separate ways.
Fast forward to 2018 and the original line-up got together again and have, just a few days ago, issued their album Back in the Saddle. And what a killer of an album it is too.
A huge sound which harks back to those much-missed early NWOBHM days though with a fresh feel to proceedings amongst the mixture of some old songs and some new songs.
Thirteen muscular hard rockers packed to the rafters with huge riffs, the powerchords, soaring guitar work, a vocal performance from Andy Wood reminiscent of Graham Bonnett and the thumping rhythm section.
Also, such is the song writing and arrangements here on Back in the Saddle is that every track sounds different whilst hitting hard and with a running time of around sixty five minutes or so the quality does not dip to fill the time. This album is, forgive me the over-used musical cliché, all killer and no filler.
Never Say Never a chunky opener. Typical New Wave of British Heavy Metal with the punchy, driving style with the bass throbbing along to drive the momentum. Driving Seat in a similar style as is Working Nights. A trio of hard-hitting heavy rockers as you’ll hear anywhere.
Nowhere Left to Fall starts to show the band’s ability to write wider ranging stuff as it starts with a quite genteel acoustical strumming straying in to country/southern rock territory for a while before breaking in to a huge slashing/cutting riff and back again with more of that superb guitar work.
Day to Day has an elongated intro solo/jam going on that’s superb – then in come the vocal power and more of the flying riffs and solos.
Stranger Stranger boasts a brutal, fast, slashing, punchy riff and a fast pace that speeds along in marvellous style. A monster of a song. Have a listen.
The closing three tracks of Sioux Child, Stand Up and Dayglo Disco just as good as what’s gone before. Stand Up could be a hit single it’s so catchy. Dayglo Disco rather tongue in cheek though check out the solos. Simply phenomenal.
Rhabstallion have come back here with a hugely enjoyable album of epic proportions. Sure, it’s four decades since those early New Wave of British Heavy Metal days first time around though here on Back in the Saddle they show they’ve not missed a step over those decades and show of it should be done. If there’s any justice in the world it should sell in massive numbers.
>> RHABSTALLIION BACK IN THE SADDLE ON AMAZON HERE <<
There’s also a double-vinyl version which has some tracks not on the CD.
For more about Rhabstallion, check out the band’s web site here:
https://www.rhabstallion.com/